Emmy voters make a number of mistakes every year. Their most recent, and most egregious error, was in failing to nominate Michael Cera for his brilliant portrayal of a cousin-obsessed teenager on the best show currently on television, "Arrested Development." Week after week Cera's nuanced performance includes some of the best comic timing in the business. Sadly Emmy voters won't be able to rectify their oversight as it appears Arrested may be prematurely coming to the end of their 3 season run. FOX recently made it public that they would only pick up 13 of Arrested's planned 22 episodes, and has decided to take the show off the air for the month of November, promising to air new episodes in December, all but insuring a cancellation of the show. With "24" starting up in January, it looks like there will be a series of unaired episodes that will inevitably make it onto a DVD release, a fate that seems to be destined for a show too intelligent for its time and the victim of a negligent parent company. The following interview was conducted November 19, 2005. For more information check out The OP.

Hey Michael Cera, how's it going?
It's ok. I'm just watching the TV Guide channel.

Anything good on?
No, just the TV Guide Channel.

Can we talk about FOX first?
Yeah, of course. That's all you need to put. And an exclamation point.

So what have you been told about what's going on?
I guess no one really knows too much about what's happening. We're not going to air in November now and apparently we're supposed to air in December. We're only making 13 episodes and then I guess that's going to be it.

Have you heard any rumors about it going to Showtime?
I don't know. I think HBO and Showtime like to develop their own shows. We'd like to go there but I don't know if it'll actually happen.

Apparently there's talk that Showtime is looking for a companion to “Weeds.”
Really? Even FX would be great. I'll go next to “Weeds,” I don't care, I'm not picky.

What'd you think when you first heard the news?
I mean, this is what we've been hearing from day 1 you know? This isn't anything new. We've always been on the brink of cancellation.

Do you hold FOX accountable for what's going on?
Yeah. I mean, FOX has picked us up repeatedly. We've never had decent ratings and they've picked us up over and over, so I guess that's commendable. But I've never seen a commercial for the show so I don't know how anyone could have ever heard of it.

Do you think it was a good idea to move it to Monday night?
I think it was, but they could have done something to let people know that it was moving to Monday nights. I mean, even a little commercial, like a promo, half commercial, 15 second commercial on Sundays or Mondays. We just aired on premiere night and everyone thought we were cancelled.

So obviously they could have done a better job advertising the show.
Yeah. I've heard “swashbucklers” used to describe FOX and I don't know if that's fair.

I wouldn't use “explorers” either.
No, that doesn't even work there. That's not their range. Or their field either.

Why do you think it is that the show hasn't got the greatest ratings?
I guess it's hard to tune in and know what's going on—because there's about 10 storylines going at one time. So if people haven't seen the show and they just jump in and try to watch it's easy to get confused. But at the same time I think it's easy for anyone to tune in and enjoy it. I mean, it's just a really dirty show. There are a lot of dirty jokes.

Do you think though that you need a certain amount of intelligence to understand the jokes on the show?
I guess. Here's the thing: they are just filthy jokes, but you have to have a certain amount of intelligence to decipher them and know that it's just a dirty penis joke. But when it gets right down to it, that's what it is.

Are you surprised at all with any of the jokes you guys have gotten away with?
Yeah, especially recently with stuff that I just wince at, but it's incredible. Like recently GOB made a joke about Japanese people and it just blew my mind.

Yeah, the “God knows they're squinters.”
Exactly. I never thought that that would have got on television. There's one coming up, it's not as bad as that, but GOB has a competing banana stand in an upcoming episode and he gets strippers for his, and he says, “Instead of going into that banana stand, maybe these girls can make your banana stand.” Is there any way that they can get that on television?

I think the thing I like about the show is that it's so smart, yet there will be the dumbest penis jokes on it.
Exactly. The simplest of penis jokes.

But the thing is, is that it's like older movies where they won't come right out and say it.
Yeah, it's just always implied that we're talking about a penis. Or any other rude body part.

The one that surprised me was when Lucille was talking about the “musty old claptrap.” And then there was this pause where Bateman just looks at her.
Yeah, and that pause is saying to the audience he's talking about a human vagina. It's blatant if you follow the tone of the show and know that we're always just trying to make dirty jokes.

Do you think there's enough broad humor on the show to appeal to people that haven't seen it?
I think this year and last year they've especially tried to make that more prominent—more slapsticky humor. Like in this last episode there was a lot of stuff falling over. So I think it's kind of trying to reach out to people who can't follow the regular pace of the show, but unfortunately those people aren't watching because they don't even know that we're on.

I was trying to figure out what show it's similar to as far as intelligence level and all I can come up with is “Seinfeld.”
Yeah, it's kind of like “Seinfeld” but “Seinfeld” was more accessible because you can just tune into any episode and every episode is a self-contained story.

Yeah, and most of the humor was based on minutiae and relationship-type humor.
Yeah, when ours is about real estate and stuff like that.

I don't think too many viewers own a banana stand. Although maybe you guys are huge among the banana stand owning audience.
Yeah, I guess. I've never checked the ratings on that demographic but I'm assuming we clean up.

Do you have any advice for fans, what's your general opinion right now?
I think right now we're trying in these next five episodes that we're filming—it's blatant that we're begging people to view the show. Like Ron Howard will say something like, “Please tell your friends to watch this show.” We're just desperate at this point. But there are petitions and websites and things like that. Though I don't know how much affect it will have with the bigwigs over at FOX.

The swashbucklers.
Right, the swashbuckling bigwigs. But I don't know, I guess anything helps. You know, writing strongly worded letters. I heard people are sending bananas over to FOX but I don't know what kind of an impact that will have.

I heard that people are going to send fake mustaches to Comedy Central to help get a second season for “Stella.”
Oh, that's brilliant. God, that's awesome.

I really thought it would get picked up, but I don't know if that's going to happen.
Do you not think it's going to? Well, what is Comedy Central playing on a Tuesday at 10:30 that's getting huge ratings?

I don't know, I guess they've got “Mind of Mencia.”
Oh my god. If I have to watch one more episode of that—if I'm forced to watch one more episode of that…

Are you captive or something?
Well yeah. Whether it's family, or my mother, people will just give me an ultimatum. They'll tell me I can either watch “Mind of Mencia” or my relationship with them is a newly burned bridge. It's a disgusting ultimatum.

Yeah, that sounds like a tough road to hoe.
He is brilliant. There's a gap that he's bridging.

Between Hondurans and Mexicans.
Exactly.

Can we go back and talk about what it was like to first get involved with the show? You were on a FOX show before right?
Yeah, I did a FOX show that never aired. I think Mitch Hurwitz saw some episodes and I knew some people over at FOX so I think that helped me get the audition for this. So that overall wasn't a complete waste of time.

What was the pilot for?
It was a show called “The Grubbs.” We actually ended up making 8 episodes of it. It was a multiple camera sitcom with Randy Quaid and Carol Kane. It was very low-brow, toilet humor. It probably would have stayed on for years if it had aired, but FOX cancelled it. But it's so lucky that they did because I never would have been able to do Arrested. But it was fun.

What did you think when you first read the script for “Arrested Development”?
Reading the pilot script, it was written in a very clear way, like the feel of the show, the mockumentary. And Mitch wrote it so awesomely and the dialogue was incredible. It was written exactly like how it turned out. So I called my manager right after I read it and told him I wanted to audition for it. My dad actually read it and there was another script that I could have auditioned for too, and he liked that one better. It's kind of hard to imagine what the show was going to look like. But it was very apparent that Mitch had the style down right away. So I just tried desperately to audition for it.

Is it true that you don't have to go to wardrobe when you get to the set?
Yeah. I just walk in like that. And my face looks like that everyday too so I really don't have to do anything.

I had heard that you were a big Hawaiian shirt fan even prior to the show.
I don't like to talk about it because it makes me seem like a braggart, but I do have an impressive collection of Hawaiian shirts. And not just Hawaiian—saying Hawaiian is like saying that the only soft drink I like is Coke when I like a whole variety. So there's a whole insanely large collection of shirts around the world that have a Hawaiian feel.

Do you have any favorites?
Right now I'm going around the Turkey/Hungary region—their version of the Hawaiian shirt, which, you can't say it's Hawaiian, but it's got that kind of style.

I would imagine they have a very different take on it.
Well it's a lot of reds, a lot of deep blues. I have a couple grey ones, which are interesting. But they're all really fun. I always get winks and high-fives when I'm walking on the street from people who want to be my friend just based on my shirts. It's a good way to meet people.

Do you get more of a response from the shirts than the fact that you're on a show on FOX?
Oh yeah. People know the shirts more than the show. Definitely.

When you were first reading the script, it said that you kissed your cousin right?
Right. It's made very clear.

What did you think of that?
It was interesting, and obviously when you're reading the pilot you don't know how long that storyline will be sustained for. But I was really excited when they kept the crush going for so long and they kept drawing the incest joke out. That's the most fun thing to do. It's insanely awkward. And she knows it's awkward and I know it's awkward, and I have to hide it from my dad. It was so much fun to do.

You don't draw from any real-life stuff for that do you?
No, not really. There might be something that I bring to that, but it's nothing that anyone would ever need to know to watch the show. For that reason I don't need to talk about it.

When you first met Alia did you talk about how you were going to have to kiss?
Um, not really. I think it was her first kiss ever. So that put the pressure on. And her dad is very strict. Like even if boys call about homework he'll slam down the phone and tell them to never call again. And that was terrifying because he was working on the pilot too. He's a really nice guy. It was the last day that we were shooting too, so the suspense had built up.

Did you chew any gum or anything prior?
I guess you could chew gum and stuff, but I like to be method. It was a party boat we were shooting on so I was eating crackers and party boat foods. Some people say it's courteous to your other actor to not be method but I just don't follow that. I'm not going to let my concern of someone else's welfare affect my overall performance. Ever.

Those are words to live by. Were you surprised though that the incest has been drawn out for this amount of time?
Yeah. Well it went away mostly for season 2 because Anne was around and it wasn't as prominent as it was in the first season, but this year they've really brought it back. With the end of the second season you could feel it coming back, and now this year it's fully back. It's fun to do.

I've heard that you're actually not very awkward around girls and that it's pretty hard to act that way around these girls.
Well, have you heard that from anyone other than me? I tell people that, but then when it comes to talking to girls it's totally different. Lately it's been not as bad. I've got a lot of new shirts.

It's the perfect ice-breaker. What's a normal day like on the set for you?
Normally I'll come in pretty early, or it can totally vary and you can come in in the afternoon sometimes. Get into wardrobe. I change out of my Hawaiian shirts into wardrobe's Hawaiian shirts. I put on these topsider shoes and walk around and get some food and kill some time. From there you do your scenes, which is rehearsing and shooting and it goes pretty fast. I do my school in between. You try to talk to the crew to keep the morale up and to keep the image up that you're a fun guy on the set. Jason Bateman has that down. He'll go up to any crew member and it seems like he feels he's on the same level as them. That's an actor's finest. An actor's finest acting happens off-camera.

Do you think he was like that on “Teen Wolf Too”?
I think so. I like to think he was born with it. And then you just hang out and kill time, watch the TV Guide channel.

How soon prior to shooting do you get the scripts?
Lately we've been getting it the day of the shooting, which is part of the thing that hurts us with FOX. These scripts come out at 35 pages apiece when they need to be 21. So a lot of the cutting happens in editing. And that really gets on FOX's nerves. Because we're shooting stuff we don't even really need. But that's what makes it exciting, what keeps it fresh.

So how much information do you have about where your character's going?
I don't know. You can always talk to Mitch about what he's planning to do, but a lot of the time he doesn't even know. So I have just as much information as anyone does.

Do you think Michael is a good father?
Yeah. At times he might be oblivious. It says in the pilot that he's a good man, and I'm going to go by that.

Don't you think it's more that he wants to be known as a good man?
I think he has good intentions all of the time. But every now and then he stops and thinks “Well, what about me?” And he does that every episode.

How do you feel about how he's manipulated George Michael?
You think he has?

Yeah, like that episode where he was supposed to spend time with Buster but he has George Michael do it instead.
Yeah, he can be manipulative and sometimes George Michael gets upset about it, but it's all in good fun. He still respects his dad.

Do you think George Michael is the most moral character on the show?
I think George Michael is among the most moral characters. Buster has always had good morals. He's always good with people. And Michael, overall he's generally concerned about the well-being of his son and his family.

Do you think George Michael's development is age appropriate? I noticed his room seems to have been decorated the same way forever.
He may be being pulled back by the fact that he lives in a model home. That might screw him up a bit. I guess they're making it so his room always looks like the generic boy room in the house. I think his development is overall age-appropriate, except it might be holding him back that he's in love with his cousin too.

How did you feel about that episode where Maeby was filming the cousins movie and Ron said that maybe they weren't related.
That's kind of been left up in the air. Sometime Ron will start a thought and he just won't finish it you know? That's just like the real Ron Howard.

Do you think that's him injecting some method acting?
Yeah, he'll just start a thought and not finish it just because he's in the wrong character. You'll think you're talking to Ron Howard, when you're talking to Ron the narrator, who's really a CGI pigeon, who will be revealed in the end.

That must be hard to differentiate.
Yeah, though you can always talk to Brian Grazer.

Have there been any scenes that have been hard to film because you kept laughing?
There were a couple things.

I was listening to the commentary and they talk about how you don't break character very often.
Well I like to be an actor about it. And approach it as an actor. There were a few things where you panic and think, “What if I don't stop laughing?” There will be some parts where you have tears in your eyes. There was one thing where David Cross was doing a scene and he was showing me his cutoff shorts and he throws them at my chest. And he had to stop throwing them at my chest because every time he did I started laughing. And it was so funny. It would have been so funny on the show but it's not even on the show anymore because I couldn't do it without laughing. He would just hurl the shorts into my chest. I robbed all the viewers of a funny thing because I couldn't stop laughing.

Was that when he was convinced that George Michael was also a never-nude?
Right. In the first season.

What's it like to work with all these people, like David Cross?
It's pretty incredible. It can be intimidating and overwhelming at times. Me and Alia just get to sit around these guys and soak it up. They're all very good people to study.

How is shooting the show different from what you've done before?
Well, this one's very much like a movie in a lot of ways. On a multi-camera show, even if you're in one scene, you have to come in everyday just to rehearse and then you do it in front of an audience. And in this one you can end up working 5 days in a week or 1 day. Your schedule can change. It's easier to do movies if you want, which I don't want to do. I'm just not into it.

Well, there have been rumors about the “Youth in Revolt” movie.
I think they're signing a new director to that now. That's something I'm going to have to beg for. And I plan on begging.

I would recommend wearing one of your Turkish shirts to that audition.
I was thinking of getting one of those “I'm single let's mingle” shirts made. I need to find a shirt-maker, an embroiderer.

I think C.D. [Payne] used to sell those on his website.
Yeah, I went on there but couldn't find any. I'd just as soon get one made.

Do you want to talk about your love for the “Youth in Revolt” book? I think we need to take this to the people.
Absolutely. I'm always showing it to people. I've bought it for so many people's birthdays.

Have you ever had anyone not like it?
No. I've never come into contact with anyone who hasn't liked it. I can't imagine anyone not liking it.

I hate to say this, but I might actually go so far as to drop them as a friend if they didn't like it.
Me too. It just doesn't make sense. What does it take to please you?

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned that's the funniest book you could read.
That's as good as it gets. Look no further.

The thing that blows my mind about it is that it's a 50 or so year old guy writing about teenagers beating off together. It's totally filthy, yet totally smart at the same time, which, again, relates back to what “Arrested Development” does.
Exactly. All it takes to capture people is to go really low-brow but hide it with smart talk.

I think that actually might be one of the reasons that “Arrested Development” isn't doing as well as it could.
Yeah, we just hide all the stuff so well.

Right and you guys will hide stuff like 5 episodes back. There will be things that won't make sense until you see an episode about 6 episodes later.
Yeah, that's what the DVDs are good for. This season we even had a callback to the pilot.

How do you think they do that? I've always been curious how they keep track.
I don't know. Maybe they just do it as they go along. But I get the feeling that Mitch planned some stuff years ahead, just hoping that we'd get that many seasons.

Were you familiar with his “Golden Girls” work at all?
No, I've seen “Golden Girls” but I've never seen an episode that he's written.

It just seemed like they came out of nowhere with a show that was so different from anything that was on the air.
Totally. I think he had a pilot last year that didn't last.

Didn't he and Jeffrey Tambor work on a show together?
Yeah, that's the one. I think he created that. That's how they met.

Do you have any favorite guest stars?
Everyone loves Henry Winkler. He's the best person in the world. He's the nicest man that anyone will meet.

The thing that's so amazing to me about his performance is that I don't even think of him as Fonzie anymore.
Yeah, and that's what he's universally known for. And now you just think of him as this perverted lawyer.

I really enjoy all his exclamations, when his voice will get all high.
My favorite line of this whole season that they've aired so far was in the first episode. Michael comes to meet him in Vegas and he says, “Michael, how much do you know?” He just does it all casually. That's my favorite line in the whole thing.

Do you have any favorite George Michael lines?
I like all my scenes with Tobias. All my scenes with David in the first season, those are my favorite. But I can't think of a specific line.

I think my favorite is the one about needing a leather jacket for when he's on his hog and needs to go into a controlled slide.
When you see lines like that you almost resent any other show. Like you resent the shows like “Two and a Half Men” that are getting millions of viewers a week. I mean, have you ever seen that show?

I haven't. I have seen some of “The War at Home” and I have to tell you, that got turned off very quickly.
Yeah. I saw “Two and a Half Men” on a plane and was like, “What?”

I feel like with what you're doing, it's not for the general public really. I think you guys are doing a show that rewards people for paying attention.
Yeah, but people who watched “Seinfeld” should be watching this and where are all they? I watch “Seinfeld” and I have all the DVDs and I think that watching “Arrested” you find stuff in every episode that you didn't catch, and it's the same way with “Seinfeld.”

Well and “Seinfeld” too seems like it started to get more serialized around the 4th season when the audience picked up. Like in that season everything came together in the end.
Right, there was an arc to the whole season.

Yeah, and I think for the casual viewer they might not get that there is an evolution to the show and that characters grow.
Yeah, if you watch it all in one big sitting you totally see that they were doing that all along. And with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” he's doing the same thing.

When you were first talking to Mitch about the show, what did he tell you about it?
Well, he compared it to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and those kinds of shows. I guess “The Office” as well. Those are kind of the same shows and feels. I know that a lot of the characters are loosely based on Mitch too. Like Mitch does magic, that's where he got GOB, and I think he had a cookie stand when he was a kid, which he changed to a banana stand.

Were there any other things that are from his life that you were surprised by?
Let me think. There are a couple of things, not surprising things. This is a small one, but there was the scene where Michael's office is so cold and he goes into another room and it's too hot. Then Tobias comes and he takes off his coat and he's in there naked. That was based on Mitch's office.

Did you hear about how the Parent Television's Council rated “Arrested Development” as one of the worst shows?
Yeah, and rightly so. I'm not going to argue with them. You know what, that whole council is a joke to me. Just pull your kid away from the TV, what are you complaining about?

Do you think maybe the Parent's Television Council is affecting your ratings?
[laughs] The PTA? Possibly, but no I don't think that's going to affect the ratings. Who takes them seriously?

Yeah, I remember when that came out they had explained some of the dirtier jokes and people were like, “Thanks for reminding me why I like the show.”
Yeah, all the disgusting little reasons that people who do watch the show, watch it.

Let's talk about the Star Wars kid. What did you think when you first read that?
I knew what it was. I had seen the video. I felt bad immediately that I was going to have to do this.

Yeah, he actually had to drop out of school and go to a different school.
His friends got a hold of it and showed it to everyone right?

I don't think they were his friends. My understanding is that he recorded it and returned the video to the school and then they got it and showed it to people. It was like in the episode how it was recorded over something.
Oh god, that's so brutal.

Do you feel any guilt over having done those scenes?
I did, but then it was fun to do. I'm sure he's heard it all by now. I'm really hoping that I never have to come into contact with him and have to explain my actions.

Do you have a favorite episode out of all the episodes?
The ones that we're just recently shooting. The whole Tobias hair-plug thing gets incredibly dark. It's probably the darkest thing we've ever done. That's really funny to me for some reason how far they go with it. Those episodes are yet to air, but I suppose they're my favorite.

As far as guest stars go, was there anyone you really wanted to work with?
Well, Bob Odenkirk, I would have loved to work with him. He's one of my heroes. Ricky Gervais was going to come and do an episode, I don't know if he's ever going to do it. If he came I would flip out.

Yeah, there was talk about how the cast was going to pay for him to come out there.
I totally would have paid. What we heard is that he was supposed to come and do it but FOX wouldn't pay his fare. So we would have paid out of pocket for him to come. God, that's ridiculous.

Did you ever suggest anyone? Could you do that?
No, I don't think I have that kind of pull. In fact even if I suggested someone I think I would have been shown the door, so I had to stay away from that whole thing.

If you weren't shown the door, who would you like to see on it?
Well, Ricky Gervais I think would be great on it.

I'm assuming “Stella.”
Oh god, anyone from “Stella” would be incredible on the show. You know, there's so many funny people too who kind of have the style of our show. Jeff Garlin came and did the show and if Larry David had a part that would have been incredible. Or anyone like that.

Were you surprised when you heard Charlize Theron would be on the show?
Yeah, that's a big person to come and do a 5 episode thing on a FOX show. I had heard that she had watched the show and liked it, so it was just awesome.

I had heard too that the woman who directed “Monster” also directed some episodes.
Oh yeah, Patty Jenkins. She came and did one episode of the second season.

Let's talk about directors. You've had Paul Feig from “Freaks and Geeks” directing episodes.
Paul Feig is awesome. He's one of my favorite directors. The Russo Brothers are incredible too, but they haven't been back this year because they're so busy now.

It seems they have all sorts of deals lined up with Will Arnett right now.
Right and I think they're doing an Owen Wilson movie right now. Those guys are really great. They've been on it since the pilot and gave it the feel that's stayed with it since then.

Has there been any talk as to what you guys are going to do after this is over?
I guess it's just every man for themselves. Everyone's going to be fighting for a job. We'll see if it can last somewhere else, or who knows, I don't even know if FOX would allow them to do that. That could be kind of a lost hope.

Isn't it up to the production company?
No, I think it's up to 20th Century Fox, but maybe they'd be willing to shop us around.

What about the DVD sales though?
I've heard good things about it, but we're never given numbers about it.

I saw this past week that for awhile you guys were number 1 and 2 on Amazon's top DVD sales. It's almost like with all this current publicity that FOX could use this and say, “This is a good show, and we're going to air it now.”
Exactly. See that's the thing. Maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised.

I did read that the president said they're going to air the episodes and see what happens, but I don't know how much that means.
Yeah, they're going to air us in December and I think we've only got 5 episodes right now. And we've got 8 more to air, and we're not on the schedule in January, so I don't see how we're going to be able to air the whole 3rd season.

It reminds me of what happened with “Freaks and Geeks.”
Yeah, or “Undeclared,” same thing with “Family Guy.” They kept moving that around when it was originally on. They just don't know what to do.

The thing I don't understand is that if you have a show that's in danger of being cancelled every season, I would think that they would pair it up with a proven show, aside from “The Simpsons.”
Yeah, exactly, and advertise it.

Right, but instead they moved it to a night on its own with an unproven show.
Well, what they do with their advertising is they take their big hits like “The OC” and “Prison Break” and put all their advertising into that, which is kind of backwards to me.

Yeah, I feel the same way. If your shows are doing huge numbers, why keep pushing it? I almost see it as being like McDonald's still having TV commercials, as if people are going to forget that there's a McDonald's two blocks away from them.
Yeah, who needs to now hear about McDonald's?

Right, I mean I understand they have new products they want to tell you about every once in awhile.
Exactly, it's just a friendly reminder. Like, “We're still alive, we're still incredibly wealthy, just come eat a burger.”

Aside from actually advertising the show, do you have any ideas as to how they could have advertised it better?
Any commercials being on, I mean, those seem to really work. Or a billboard. You know what, the first week “Kitchen Confidential” was on I was driving in LA and I saw a huge billboard for it. And they're following us! It just blew my mind. I've never seen anything like that for the show.

Also another thing I can't understand is that you guys won all those Emmy's and I thought they would have really ramped up their advertising to highlight that.
Yeah, totally, that's the perfect time to take advantage of that.

Right, you won best comedy your first year out.
That was a big thing. But after that we didn't air for two months so people forgot about it. I guess it's hard for them to advertise that. This year we aired really early. We premiered the night after Emmy's. We won for writing this year and I didn't see anything about that.

Yeah, I think you guys were nominated for 3 of the 5 nominations.
Yeah, we had to lose. It is hard to lose to yourself. Actually all the writers who were nominated against Mitch were all writers who aren't on the show anymore. So that would have been the only way to plug our own show.

I heard that this season the writers were operating under the assumption that it would probably get cancelled so they were going to try to go all out.
Yeah, that's kind of what it's been like. It's gotten really ridiculous and really kind of zany, if that's not offensive. Especially the Tobias hair-plugs thing, that just gets incredibly weird and just awesome. It's my favorite thing we've done because it's so insane.

How would you like the George Michael/Maeby relationship to be resolved?
I think they need to determine first whether they're cousins or not, before it gets weird. But even so it's like they're cousins either way. So any way to wrap that up would be for them to accept their fate as cousins.

Do you think George Michael will ultimately end up with Anne?
I think Anne's out of the picture. Man, I don't like the way my voice sounds when I say Anne. It sounds like a cat. It's because Mae Whitman is on another show now. But I think Anne's out of the picture now. So it's either Maeby or loneliness.

Photo courtesy Michael Cera